Romans 112
The
Meaning of the Resurrection Message
Easter Sunday 2003
By Brian Kocourek
This morning the Easter Message will be preached from many a pulpit across the world, and there will be as many different approaches to this Doctrine as there are pulpits. I am afraid that most of them will bypass the Truth of the Resurrection and will present a social Gospel version that will not bring forth any change in those that hear it. For there has been 2,000 years of the preaching of the Cross and the Raising of the Man Christ Jesus, and yet the world continues to fall further and further into sin, until the Light of the Glorious Gospel is all but gone out, and the darkness, yes Gross darkness covers the earth.
And why is this? Does not the Word of God and its glorious revelation of the Risen Christ have power above the darkness? Yes, this is true, and it does, but it is written, many are called but few are chosen, and great is the way, but narrow is the pass, and few there be that find it.
I believe that the Easter Message in most pulpits today will not be preaching the resurrected Christ is alive today and is working in the midst of the people once again showing Himself to be alive forever more. But they will focus on to what is to them a story with no real present power, but one that is faded from being repeated for 2,000 and the hope of hat story has faded with the memory of it.
As
William Branham always said, “Man is are always looking back, and always looking forward
but he fails to see what God is doing in the age that he lives.”
Therefore this morning I would like to examine the resurrection of Christ and ask you what does it mean to you this morning. Is it just a story that took place according to this Book we call the Bible? Is it because you have read what some witnesses wrote 2,000 years ago? Then if so, how do you know today that He is still alive? Or is it more than just a story to you. Is it because your life has been affected by the personal presence of the resurrected Christ Himself, and you have personally become witness to the Resurrection power and presence in your own life? And thus you have become a witness yourself of His Personal Presence with us this morning. We are not talking about the psychological effect of a belief system, and your personal commitment to that belief system, because the Muslem’s show more commitment tot heir belief system and they have no hope of a resurrection. Its not even their language. They simply have a place where they believe they go called heaven where they will have 72 virgins and a very carnal future awaiting them. That is not what I am talking about. The world is full of those psychological hopes.. But I am talking to you about an awareness that comes from personal contact and personal communion with the resurrected Christ, Himself.
For
the question I am presenting to you this morning is this. What does the
resurrection mean to you. Is your answer based on what
it meant to others, or what it personally means to you.
Is your answer based on the experience and witness of others or is it based on
your own personal experience with the resurrected Christ. Now, many people talk
about what Christ did do, but what are they saying concerning what He is here
now doing? They look forward to the
Coming of the Lord but have failed to recognize the Appearing of the Lord that
comes before the Coming.
And
yet I am afraid that most people who claim to believe in the literal Second
coming of Christ do not really look forward to that time with great
anticipation. I have a friend that I would say is a very good Baptist, and he
will admit that he is looking forward to that day, but just hopes it does not
come too soon, because there are still things he wants to do before he comes.
Now, I ask the question, is that then looking forward to that Great day, or is
it dreading that day coming too soon? What does this world have to offer in its
corrupted state that the new heaven and the new earth will not have even
better? Do they even understand that we do not stay in some elevated place
called heaven but that we come back to earth in a resurrected body that is
glorified and young and full of life again?
And so the question then in their mind is, what really will the resurrection do for me that I can not do now? And so their minds have become clouded to the hope of our calling. Now, this is not just a 20th century question, for the Apostle Paul spoke of this question even in his day.
I CORINTHIANS
21 For since by man
[came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (Now,
you may not have caught what Paul was saying here, but let me read it again to
you more slowly.) even so IN Christ shall all be
made alive 23 But every man in his own
order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that
are Christ's at his coming. (Now,
here is our hope. He said Christ the firstfruits; afterward
they that are Christ's at his coming, and the word coming here is
the Greek word Parousia, which simply means presence,
which does not speak of the act of arrival, or the second coming, but it
actually refers to an event the precludes the 2nd coming. This
speaks of the Appearing that gets us ready for the 2nd Coming. For
Paul continues by saying, ) 24 Then cometh the end, (In other words, after
this great Parousia takes place, then cometh the
end...) when he
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have
put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he (God) must reign, till he
(God) hath
put all enemies under his (the son of God’s) feet. 26 The last enemy [that] shall be
destroyed [is] death. 27 For he(God) hath put all things under his (the
Son of God’s)
feet. But when he (God) saith all things are put under him
(The Son of God), it is manifest that he (God) is excepted, which
did put all things under him (the Son of God). 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto
him (the son of God), then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him (God) that put all things
under him (The Son of God), that God may be all in all.
Therefore my question to you remains this. What does the resurrection mean personally to you? It means that you also have a promise from God that you will be raised from the dead evena as God fulfilled the raising of His First born Son from the dead.
Now,
then that would lead us to another question. And that is this. If God is to
raise us up frm the dead, then in what form will we
be raised up from the dead? And I believe it is because men do not understand
this question is why they do not really long for the resurrection and catching
away. It is because they are afraid of what they might get for a body. And they
are not sure that they will like that body. Most people have some silly notion
that heaven is a place where you just float around on a cloud and are kind of
like a spirit or a little cloud like mist or spirit or come
notion as that. But God made the earth for man and intends for us to dwell on
the earth thorough out an eternity future. And to answer this question as to
how we come back the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
I CORINTHIANS
Paul
is telling us here that we have a natural Body and a spirit body. When the seed
goes into the ground, it has to lie there and rot in order for the life that is
in it to be released from its natural body or husk or shell. But once that
spirit body is released from its dried up husk, the life begins to bring forth
another body in the same image of the one that went into the earthly grave,
only one that is not all dried out and old, but one that is new and full of
life.
46 Howbeit
that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward
that which is spiritual. 47 The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man
[is] the Lord from heaven. 48
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is
the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the
image of the earthy, we shall also bear
the image of the heavenly. (Now, what Paul is telling us here is
that just as we have born the image of earthly carnage men sold under sin
because of the fall in the garden, so too shall we receive a body that is incorruptible,
which is not born by a sexual desire but from the Spoken Word Promise of God.) 50 Now this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave,
where [is] thy victory? 56 The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin
[is] the law. 57 But thanks [be] to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 ¶ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Now, concerning the body that we come back with. We all know
that when Jesus was raised from the dead the brethren did not recognize Him.
And why is that? Because when Jesus died
he was only about 33 years old, but because of the rigor and strain of the
ministry he appeared to be around 50 years old.
JOHN 8:57Then said the Jews
unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
In
the Book of John, we have a witness who had first hand experience of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And in his telling us of the
happenings surrounding the resurrection from the dead, we find that no one
recognized Him from his looks but it was the things he did and said that they
were able to recognize him from.
JOHN 20:1 ¶ The first [day] of the week cometh
Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre,
and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. 2 Then she runneth,
and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. 3
Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. 4 So they ran both together: and the other
disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.
5 And he stooping down, [and looking in], saw the linen clothes lying; yet went
he not in. 6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen
clothes lie, 7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the
linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 8 Then went in also
that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre,
and he saw, and believed. 9 For as yet they knew not
the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples
went away again unto their own home. 11 ¶ But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, [and
looked] into the sepulchre, 12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and
the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto
them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know
not where they have laid him. 14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself
back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest
thou? whom seekest thou?
She, supposing him to be the gardener,
saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and
I will take him away.(Now, here lays two clues as to the image that
Jesus was showing here. Number one he appeared to be young like a gardener
would be. And two he appeared to be strong and full of health in order to be
able to carry away the body.) 16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is
to say, Master. 17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me
not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and
your Father; and [to] my God, and your God. 18 Mary Magdalene came and told
the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things
unto her. 19 ¶ Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the
doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Several
time more Jesus appeared to them and they did not recognize him. He appeared to
the brethren while they were fishing, and broke bread with them. He appeared to
them on their road to Emmaus, and in all cases they did not recognize him until
he did something or said something that identified who he was.
Let’s look now for another example of this in the old Testament, for if we believe that God changes not and that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Then what he did back then, He is obligated to do the same today.
JOEL 1:1 ¶ The word of the LORD that came to Joel
the son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, ye old men, and give
ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in
the days of your fathers? 3 Tell ye your children of it, and [let] your
children [tell] their children, and their children another generation. 4 That
which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust
hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left
hath the caterpiller eaten.
JOEL 2:25 And I will restore
to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent
among you. 26 And ye shall eat in
plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people
shall never be ashamed. 27 And ye shall know that I [am] in the midst of
Resurrection is not about receiving another body, but the same body restored back to the fullness of life.
GENESIS 17:17 Then Abraham fell
upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall
[a child] be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and
shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? 18 And Abraham said unto God, O that
Ishmael might live before thee! 19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear
thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name
Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant,
[and] with his seed after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee:
Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him
exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which
Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set
time in the next year. 22 And he left off talking with him, and God went up
from Abraham.
GENESIS 18:10 And
he said, I will certainly return unto
thee according to the time of life; (now this time of life comes from a Hebrew words.
Eth which means a period of time,
and it comes from the root word, ad that speaks of a time in the past. But that
will continue into the future. The Word for Life here is the Hebrew word chay or chayah which means: to
quicken, revive, refresh, to restore to life and it refers to being
restored to life, full health, vitality and energy, which means to be changed
back from an old woman to a young one again, and from an old man who had dried
up to a young one again.) and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard [it]
in the tent door, which [was] behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah [were] old
[and] well stricken in age; [and] it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner
of women. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After
I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? 13 And the LORD
said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear
a child, which am old? 14 Is any thing
too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah
shall have a son.
Not
only did God restore them back to their youthful bodies, but he also gave Sarah
ability to receive seed and bring forth from her womb, life as well. So we are
looking at restoration as not only bringing you back to the age of vitality,
and energy, but it also speaks of restoring everything, including your health.
And then in chapter 20 we find Abraham and Sarah journeying into the
GENESIS 20:1 ¶ And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 3 ¶ But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou [art but] a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she [is] a man's wife. 4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? 5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. 6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. 7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he [is] a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine. 8 ¶ Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. 10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? 11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God [is] not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. 12 And yet indeed [she is] my sister; she [is] the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother. 14 ¶ And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. 15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land [is] before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. 16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand [pieces] of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved. 17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. 18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife. 21:1 ¶ And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
Why
do you think the 1st Resurrection took place in the Spring time? Because God is the God of the Resurrection, and
all of creation testifies to the resurrecting power of our God and Father.
Spring is when the grass comes up, and the trees come up and the flowers come
up and all life comes back from the shallow grave of the winters
snow. Up, and living, up and living, up and living pops up every seed that went
into the ground and was buried there for a season. Brother, botany doesn’t only mean flowers and things, it means
resurrection too. Just as the springtime, when the Easter flowers are blooming,
everything's so pretty, a very type of nature; resurrection has to come in the
spring. That's the reason the resurrection is in springtime. Resurrection of
everything, and surely the King of nature resurrected, the Creator of nature,
resurrected with the rest of the resurrection of nature. And if God
changes not, then the resurrection we shall experience in this hour must also
come in the spring. Now, I am not limiting what God can do, but God has shown
Himself to be the same yesterday, today and forever. Therefore, why would he
change what He has already established throughout all of creation.
And the resurrection doesn’t bring you back in an old worn-out body? It brings you back at your best. What a cruel god that would bring you back in this same old worn out body. Could you imagine nature bringing forth broken old trees with the bark peeling off to begin with, and the leaves drying up to begin with, and the fruit withering before it has a chance to come forth? That wouldn’t be a spring time? That would be a time of horror. But resurrection is to bring up from the dead, into a condition that is new and youthful and full of expectation, and vitality and energy, and just brimming full of life.
PSALMS 104:29 Thou hidest
thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their
breath, they die, and return to their dust. 30 Thou sendest
forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest
the face of the earth. 31
¶ The glory of the LORD
shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
PSALMS 51:10 Create in me a clean
heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
ISAIAH 40:31 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up
with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall
walk, and not faint. 41:1 ¶
Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew
[their] strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near
together to judgment.
LAMENTATIONS 5:21 Turn thou us unto
thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew
our days as of old. That speaks of bringing us back to the times
when we were young again.
Our promise is a change of the body from old to youth again like Abraham and Sarah and Jesus Himself who appeared to be old and yet when He rose from the grave they did not recognize Him for he appeared as a young man to them at the grave.
The outer man is perishing but the inner man is renewed daily.
He was risen from the dead for our justification. You say, I thought He died for our justification. NO! he died that your sins might be covered under his Precious blood, and that your sinful life might be atoned for. But He rose that you might have justification because to be justified means as though you never did do it, and when He rose again for our justification it brought back His Spirit upon the believer and quickened us by the same spirit that was in Him, and has made us new creatures in Christ Jesus.
MATTHEW 22:31 But
as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was
spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
MATTHEW 27:50 ¶ Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice,
yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain
from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And
the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And
came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and
appeared unto many.
PSALMS 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
who healeth all thy diseases; 4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
who crowneth thee with lovingkindness
and tender mercies; 5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with
good [things; so that] thy youth is
renewed like the eagle's.
The
Resurrection is a living hope I PETER 1:3 ¶ Blessed [be] the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively
hope (Wuest: a Hope that has been made
alive) by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
ACTS 1:1 ¶ The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2
Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost
had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible
proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to
the kingdom of God:
ROMANS 6:3 Know ye not, that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore
we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life.
I JOHN 3:1 ¶ Behold, what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world
knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as
he is.
II CORINTHIANS 3:12 ¶ Seeing then that we have such hope, we
use great plainness of speech: 13 And
not as Moses, [which] put a vail over his face, that
the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to
the end of that which is abolished: 14 But their minds were blinded: for until
this day remaineth the same vail
untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which [vail]
is done away in Christ. 15
But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16 Nevertheless when it shall
turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is]
liberty. 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the
Spirit of the Lord.
I CORINTHIANS 13:8 9 For we know in
part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is
come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a
child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass,
darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even
as also I am known.
COLOSSIANS 3:1¶ If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the
right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the
earth. 3 For
ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, [who is] our life, shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
EPHESIANS 2:1 ¶ And
you [hath he quickened], who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time
past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience: 3
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised
[us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ
Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the
exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is]
the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them.
COLOSSIANS 2:12 Buried with him in
baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through
the faith of the operation of God,
who hath raised him from the dead. 13
¶ And you, being dead in your
sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he
quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to
us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 And having spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a shew of them
openly, triumphing over them in it. 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat,
or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come;
but the body [is] of Christ.
JOHN 11:25 Jesus said unto her,
I am the resurrection, and the life: he
that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall
he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me
shall never die. Believest thou this?
ACTS 4:33 And with great power gave the apostles witness
of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
II CORINTHIANS 4:16
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish,
yet the inward [man] is renewed day by
day.
EPHESIANS 4:22 That ye put off
concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that
ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness.
COLOSSIANS 3:9 Lie not one to
another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on
the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that
created him:
ROMANS 12:1 ¶ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed
to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God.
TITUS 3:4 But after that the
kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man
appeared, 5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That
being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life.
Now
the question is no longer whether there be a resurrection. That was already
proved when God raised up His Son. But the real question now, for each of us
here this morning is what resurrection awaits us?
JOHN 5:26 For as the Father hath
life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute
judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 28
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in
the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done
good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.
What does Easter mean to you this morning? That God keeps His Promises? Or is it still just a social tradition to you. What did Resurrection mean to Jesus, the Son of God? It meant everything to Him. It meant that God would be there to raise Him up after He went to the cross. It meant that God would not let one Word of His fall short, but will bring to pass whatsoever He has promised.
Paul
said to the men of
What
will you do this morning? What will your decision be this morning? Will you
accept the promise of Eternal Life and a change of the body? Or will you
continue on in your traditions.
Let’s just bow our
heads and our hearts in word of prayer...